Baltimore’s oriole count is shrinking, but hope remains
With spring migration underway, Maryland’s state bird — the Baltimore oriole — is returning home to breed. But fewer of those blaze-orange birds are making the journey these days, as about one in three Baltimore orioles has been lost since 1970, amid the staggering loss of 3 billion birds from breeding populations in North America.
Yet hope remains. America can take a strong step forward in bringing back our birds, and other wildlife, by enacting the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. This legislation would fund the wildlife action plans developed by every state and territory in the U.S. According to a National Wildlife Federation report, the federal government currently spends less than 5% of what’s needed to implement these plans. Maryland Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen can play a critical role in passing the act in Congress.
Maryland’s wildlife action plan lists over 600 wildlife, fish and plant species requiring conservation action, which includes more than 140 bird species — each with its own story. For example, the tiny and secretive Saltmarsh Sparrow lives among the coastal marshes along Chesapeake Bay. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird database, about 10% of all the world’s Saltmarsh Sparrows breed in Maryland. And nationwide, the sparrow’s population has plummeted by 75% since 1990 and may soon require protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The Saltmarsh Sparrow is a prime example of a bird in trouble that needs proactive, effective conservation. That’s exactly what the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is intended to deliver to state agencies that are working to restore healthy wildlife populations. Plans are already in place; only funding is needed.
Last year, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources showed what’s possible for bringing back birds by partnering with Audubon Mid-Atlantic and the Maryland Coastal Bays Program on an artificial-island nesting project for Common Terns (another at-risk bird in the Maryland’s wildlife action plan). Nesting Common Terns in Maryland’s coastal bays have declined 95% in the last three decades. But in 2021, the Maryland DNR launched an artificial island that hosted 23 nesting pairs of Common Terns — the largest tern colony anywhere in Maryland’s coastal bays.
Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would fund more projects like this, because it is built on the premise that an ounce of prevention at the state level is better than a pound of cure through the federal ESA. Investing in habitat now — to resuscitate species populations before they are endangered at the federal level — will ultimately save dollars, time and regulatory uncertainty for businesses, communities and landowners. And in the case of Common Terns and Saltmarsh Sparrows, coastal habitat restoration for these birds will also benefit human communities by creating natural buffers against sea-level rise, flooding and intense storms.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife
Act further benefits human communities by boosting local economies, generating up to $2.50 in local economic activity for every federal dollar invested in those communities. The act will create thousands of jobs in construction, forestry and other fields related to America’s
$778 billion outdoor economy. Its fiscally sound approach is based on a model designed by a partnership of business executives (from companies such as Shell Oil Company, Toyota, and Hess Corporation) and conservation scientists (from groups such as Ducks Unlimited, National Wildlife Federation and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology).
The act is modeled on one of the best success stories of American conservation: waterfowl. Since 1970, duck populations have grown more than 50% in North America, thanks in large part to federal investments and dedicated conservation funding. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act aims to replicate that success with a broader mandate, creating dedicated revenue streams for habitat investments that will foster comebacks of Saltmarsh Sparrows, Common Terns and hundreds of other species-at-risk in Maryland. And because these investments will restore entire ecosystems, Marylanders may well get more Baltimore orioles, too — as well as cleaner water, healthier forests, and more resilient coasts in the face of climate change.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act represents the most impactful investment in conservation funding in more than a generation — and the biggest win for birds in Congress since the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Here’s hoping Congress capitalizes on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure our children and grandchildren inherit their rightful American natural heritage of abundant wildlife, fish, and outdoor opportunities.